Legal Research

Types of Law

1. Statutory law refers to laws that have been passed by a legislative body. This includes statutes, constitutions and rules of court.

Citation: 20 U.S.C. 1681
     20 = volume number
     U.S.C. = set name (United States Code)
     1681 = section number

2. Case law refers to the decisions of courts and administrative bodies.

Citation: DeFunis v. Odegard 416 U.S. 312
     DeFunis v. Odegard = name of the case
     416 = volume number
     U.S. = court reporter name (United States Court Reporter)
     312 = page number

3. Administrative law refers to the regulations of administrative bodies, such as government agencies.

Citation: 50 CFR 17
     50 = title or volume number
     CFR = set name (Code of Federal Regulations)
     17 = section number

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Black's Law Dictionary QRef KF156 .B53 (also at Law Library)
American Jurisprudence 2d Law Ref KF154 .A2
Corpus Juris Secundum Law Ref KF154 .C6
West's Encyclopedia of American Law Ref KF154 .W47 1998
West's Indiana Law Encyclopedia Law Ref KFI3065 .W33

Finding Federal Statutory and Administrative Law:
     Codes and Statutes


IMPORTANT - ALWAYS CHECK THE SUPPLEMENT POCKETS OF THE BOOKS FOR ANY REVISION OF THE LAWS!

U.S. Statutes at Large (STAT) 1966 - date. CCLIR GovDocs AE 2.111 also Law KF50 .A3 1789-date.
     Official publication of all laws. Laws arranged chronologically in each volume.
U.S. Code (U.S.C.) Ref KF62 2000 .A1 also: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html
     All current statutes arranged by subject (titles).
U.S. Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) Law KF62 .W47
     US Code with annotated court decisions, histories and references to each law.
U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News Law KF48 .U58
     Supplements U.S.C.A.
Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) GovDocs AE 1.106/3: also: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html
    Regulations of federal agencies.
Federal Register (F.R.) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
     Daily update to the C.F.R.

Finding Indiana Statutory and Administrative Law: Codes and Statutes

Burns. Indiana Statutes Annotated Law Ref KFI3030 1971 .A43
Indiana Code Ref KFI 3030 .A23 also: http://www.state.in.us/legislative/ic/code/
All current statutes arranged by subject (titles).
Indiana Administrative Code Ref KFI 3035 .A285 also: http://www.state.in.us/legislative/iac/
Regulations of state agencies.
West's Annotated Indiana Code Law Ref KFI3030 1976 .A45

Finding Court Cases

Digests are indexes that provide access to cases by subject, plaintiff or defendant. Check the volumes at the end of the set for additional assistance.

Modern Federal Practice Digest Law KF127 .M63 Covers federal cases from 1939-1961.
West's Federal Practice Digest 2d Law KF127 .W48 Covers federal cases from 1961-1975.
West's Federal Practice Digest 3d Law KF127 .W49 Covers federal cases after the 2d edition.
West's Federal Practice Digest 4th Law KF 27 .W495 Covers federal cases after the 3d edition.
West's Indiana Digest 2d Law Ref KFI3057 .W53 2nd Covers Indiana cases.

Shephard's for U.S. Supreme Court Cases from Lexis Nexis Academic: VU Community only

U.S. Reporters:

U.S. Reports (U.S.) Law KF101 .U5: Official report of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.) Law KF101 .U59
Federal Reporter (F) Law KF105 .F45: Cases of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts from March 1880-November 1924.
Federal Reporter (F.2d) Law KF105 .F45 : Cases of the U.S. Court of Appeals from November 1924 to the present.
Federal Supplement (F. Suppl.) Law KF105 .F47: Cases of the U.S. District courts from October 1932 to the present.

Indiana Reporters:

Indiana Reports Law KFI 3045 .I6 (upper level of library): Decisions of the Indiana Supreme Court from May 1847 to 1981
North Eastern Reporter 2d Law KF135 .N6W4 2d.: Decisions of the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court after 1982
Indiana Court of Appeals. Reports Law KFI 3048 .A3: Decisions of the Indiana Court of Appeals before 1984

Internet Access to Resources

LexisNexis Academic (VU Community only) http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
LexisNexis Congressional (VU Community only) http://web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp/
Global Legal Network Information http://www.glin.gov/
GPO Access http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html
Indiana Laws/ Administrative Rules http://www.IN.gov/legislative/ic_iac/
Internet Legal Resource Guide http://www.ilrg.com/
Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/